The Girl Who... by Andreina Cordani

The girl who... survived
The girl who... inspires
The girl who... has something to hide

People can't bring themselves to say what happened to her. They just describe her as 'the girl who... you know...'. But nobody really knows, no one sees the real Leah.

Leah is the perfect survivor. She was seven years old when she saw her mother and sister killed by a troubled gang member. Her case hit the headlines and her bravery made her a national sweetheart: strong, courageous and forgiving.

But Leah is hiding a secret about their deaths. And now, ten years later, all she can think of is revenge.

When Leah's dad meets a new partner, stepsister Ellie moves in. Sensing Leah isn't quite the sweet girl she pretends to be, Ellie discovers that Leah has a plan, one she has been putting together ever since that fateful day. Now that the killer - and the only one who knows the truth - is being released from prison, time is running out for Ellie to discover how far Leah will go to silence her anger . . .

Happy #Bookbirthday!

Happy Thursday! Welcome to the last of our very light #Bookbirthday posts. From next week there'll be far more titles here.

The Forest of Moon and Sword by Amy Raphael

Twelve-year-old Art lives in a small village in Scotland. Her mother has always made potions that cure the sick, but now the townspeople say she is a witch.

One cloudless night, Art's mother is accused of Witchcraft, arrested, and taken from Scotland to England. Art mounts her horse, taking a sword, a tightrope, and a herbal recipe book, and begins a journey through wild forests to find her mother before summer solstice, using nature's signs and symbols to guide her.

On her journey, Art will discover what sacrifices she will need to make to be reunited with her mother - and to alter the fate of women everywhere. But will she reach her, before it's too late?

The Boy I Am by KL Kettle

They say we’re dangerous. But we’re not that different.

Jude is running out of time. Once a year, lucky young men in the House of Boys are auctioned to the female elite. But if Jude fails to be selected before he turns seventeen, a future deep underground in the mines awaits.

Yet ever since the death of his best friend at the hands of the all-powerful Chancellor, Jude has been desperate to escape the path set out for him. Finding himself entangled in a plot to assassinate the Chancellor, he finally has a chance to avenge his friend and win his freedom. But at what price?

#Bookpost! week ending the 29th December, 2020.

Happy Tuesday! Welcome to the last #bookpost of this weird, weird year. With none of us being in work, we actually only have one new book, but one is plenty!

The Visitor by Terry Tyler

In 2024, a mystery virus ravages the entire world. 'Bat Fever' is highly contagious and a hundred per cent lethal.

A cottage tucked away in an isolated Norfolk village seems like the ideal place to sit out a catastrophic pandemic, but some residents of Hincham resent the arrival of Jack, Sarah and their friends, while others want to know too much about them.

What the villagers don't know is that beneath Sarah's cottage is a fully-stocked, luxury survival bunker. A post-apocalyptic 'des res'.

Hincham isolates itself from the rest of the country, but the deaths continue―and not from the virus. There's a killer on the loose, but is it a member of the much-depleted community, or someone from outside? As the body count rises, paranoia sets in; friend suspects friend, and everyone suspects the newcomers.

Most terrifying of all is that no one knows who's next on the list...

The Witchling's Girl by Helena Coggan

In a quiet street far from the river, with an ancient tree growing through its walls and floors, is the House of the Dead. There lives the witchling: healer, midwife and conduit between the world of the living and the world below. A witchling must give up her family and friends and spend her life alone, tending to the sick and carrying the dead down dark tunnels to the underworld.

Haley was born with the gift of death-magic, and at the age of seven her mother abandons her to the witchling to be raised as her successor. But as Haley grows older and learns her craft - as invading armies pass through her town, people are born and die on her floor, and loyalties shift and dissolve around her - she finds it harder and harder to keep her vows and be the perfect and impassive healer.

But if she can't, it will be her downfall - and that of everyone she's not supposed to love . . .

Double Roundup!

Happy Sunday after Christmas! I hope you all had an excellent time and received many new books.

Once again, we missed the roundup last week, so here's a bumper double size round up!

History of Rock by Rita Nabais and Joana Raimundo

What are the greatest rock songs of all time?

Who are the most famous musical legends?

How can you become a rock star?

From the rip-roaring rock and roll rhythms of the 1950s to the psychedelic anthems of the 21st century, discover the music that has moved our feet, touched our souls and mended broken hearts. Explore musical icons, their incredible stories, their chart-topping hits and the artistic movements influenced by the creative explosion of rock.

Perfect for big fans, little punks and anyone who wants to learn what it really takes to be a rock star.

The House at the Edge of Magic by Amy Sparkles

 

Nine is an orphan pickpocket determined to escape her life in the Nest of a Thousand Treasures. When she steals a house-shaped ornament from a mysterious woman's purse, she knocks on its tiny door and watches it grow into a huge, higgledy-piggeldy house. Inside she finds a host of magical and brilliantly funny characters, including Flabberghast – a young wizard who’s particularly competitive at hopscotch – and a hideous troll housekeeper who’s emotionally attached to his feather duster. They have been placed under an extraordinary spell, which they are desperate for Nine to break. If she can, maybe they can offer her a new life in return…

Be Dazzled by Ryan La Sala

 

Who's ready to sparkle??

Project Runway goes to Comic Con in an epic queer love story about creativity, passion, and finding the courage to be your most authentic self.

Raffy has a passion for bedazzling. Not just bedazzling, but sewing, stitching, draping, pattern making--for creation. He's always chosen his art over everything--and everyone--else and is determined to make his mark at this year's biggest cosplay competition. If he can wow there, it could lead to sponsorship, then art school, and finally earning real respect for his work. There's only one small problem... Raffy's ex-boyfriend, Luca, is his main competition.

Raffy tried to make it work with Luca. They almost made the perfect team last year after serendipitously meeting in the rhinestone aisle at the local craft store--or at least Raffy thought they did. But Luca's insecurities and Raffy's insistence on crafting perfection caused their relationship to crash and burn. Now, Raffy is after the perfect comeback, one that Luca can't ruin.

But when Raffy is forced to partner with Luca on his most ambitious build yet, he'll have to juggle unresolved feelings for the boy who broke his heart, and his own intense self-doubt, to get everything he's ever wanted: choosing his art, his way.

Happy #Bookbirthday!

Happy Thursday, all! Another very quiet week, with just one book on our lists publishing. However, January books are starting to come in, so in a couple of weeks it'll be all hands on deck!

Snipers by Camille Picott

 

In this brutal war, even zombies evolve. With his town relying on his tiny band of defenders, can a young man defeat a rotting tyranny?

Northern California, 1985. Leo Cecchino won’t rest until his people are safe. Leading the battle against the Soviet walking dead, he turns to his ex-girlfriend’s chess master sister to calculate their next move. But with the commie invaders deliberately infecting American innocents, they’re running out of time to stop the streets from flowing with rivers of blood.

With bullets flying and flesh-eating threats all around, Leo can’t afford to be distracted by his growing feelings for his brilliant strategist. But when their plan to cut off a crucial supply line is derailed by unstoppable mutated predators, he’ll have to step up to prevent the free world from falling to a blood-spattered gory fate.

Can Leo show the undead Reds that America is the land of the living and the home of the brave?

The Beautiful Wild by Anna Godbersen

 

You are invited to set sail on the maiden voyage of the SS Princess of the Pacific in this indulgent historical romance from Anna Godbersen, the New York Times bestselling author of the Luxe series.

Vida Hazzard can see her future: aboard the heralded “Millionaire’s Ship of the West,” she’ll charm the young scion Fitzhugh Farrar, resulting in a proposal of marriage.

But Vida didn’t plan on Fitz’s best friend, Sal, a rough-around-the-edges boy with a talent for getting under her skin. Nor did she anticipate a hurricane dashing their ship to pieces, along with her dreams.

Stranded on an island with both Fitz and Sal, Vida is torn between the life she’s always planned for, and a future she’s never dared to want. As they desperately plot a course for home, Vida will discover just which boy can capture her wild heart—and where her future truly lies.

#Bookpost! week ending the 22nd December, 2021

Happy Tuesday! We got lucky today with several of our most anticipated titles for next year!

Doors of Sleep by Tim Pratt

What would you do if you woke up and found yourself in a parallel universe under an alien sky? This is the question Zax Delatree must answer every time he closes his eyes.

Every time Zax Delatree falls asleep, he travels to a new reality. He has no control over his destination and never knows what he will see when he opens his eyes. Sometimes he wakes up in technological utopias, and other times in the bombed-out ruins of collapsed civilizations. All he has to live by are his wits and the small aides he has picked up along the way - technological advantages from techno-utopias, sedatives to escape dangerous worlds, and stimulants to extend his stay in pleasant ones.

Thankfully, Zax isn't always alone. He can take people with him, if they're unconscious in his arms when he falls asleep. But someone unwelcome is on his tail, and they are after something that Zax cannot spare - the blood running through his veins, the power to travel through worlds...

Lore by Alexandra Bracken

 

Every seven years, the Agon begins. As punishment for a past rebellion, nine Greek gods are forced to walk the earth as mortals, hunted by the descendants of ancient bloodlines, all eager to kill a god and seize their divine power and immortality.

Long ago, Lore Perseous fled that brutal world in the wake of her family's sadistic murder by a rival line, turning her back on the hunt's promises of eternal glory. For years she's pushed away any thought of revenge against the man--now a god--responsible for their deaths.

Yet as the next hunt dawns over New York City, two participants seek out her help: Castor, a childhood friend of Lore believed long dead, and a gravely wounded Athena, among the last of the original gods.

The goddess offers an alliance against their mutual enemy and, at last, a way for Lore to leave the Agon behind forever. But Lore's decision to bind her fate to Athena's and rejoin the hunt will come at a deadly cost--and still may not be enough to stop the rise of a new god with the power to bring humanity to its knees.

Glimpsed by GF Miller

 

Charity is a fairy godmother. She doesn’t wear a poofy dress or go around waving a wand, but she does make sure the deepest desires of the student population at Jack London High School come true. And she knows what they want even better than they do because she can glimpse their perfect futures.

But when Charity fulfills a glimpse that gets Vibha crowned homecoming queen, it ends in disaster. Suddenly, every wish Charity has ever granted is called into question. Has she really been helping people? Where do these glimpses come from, anyway? What if she’s not getting the whole picture?

Making this existential crisis way worse is Noah—the adorkable and (in Charity’s opinion) diabolical ex of one of her past clients—who blames her for sabotaging his prom plans and claims her interventions are doing more harm than good. He demands that she stop granting wishes and help him get his girl back. At first, Charity has no choice but to play along. But soon, Noah becomes an unexpected ally in getting to the bottom of the glimpses. Before long, Charity dares to call him her friend…and even starts to wish he were something more. But can the fairy godmother ever get the happily ever after?

Unleashed by Amy McCulloch

When Lacey Chu wakes up in a hospital room with no recollection of how she got there, she knows something is up. But with her customizable smart pet, Jinx, missing in action and Moncha, the company behind the invention of the robot pet, up to something seriously sinister, she’s got a lot of figuring out to do. Lacey must use all her engineering skills if she has a chance of stopping Moncha from carrying out their plans. But can she take on the biggest tech company in North America armed with only a level 1 robot beetle ... ? 

Happy #BookBirthday!

 Another quiet week, with just one book from our lists publishing this week. Don't worry, though, January will make up for this quiet period!

Morgana Mage in the Robotic Age by Amy Bond

 

Morgana loves robots and longs to attend robotics school in the city.

But she’s a witch, living in a magical woodland community: the closest she comes to technology is petting her ancient mechanical familiar, Kitty. She simply doesn’t belong. But when she finally finds a way to the City, she learns of a troubling secret hiding beneath its gleaming surface: a secret that threatens the balance of civilization.

Caught between two worlds, only Morgana has the power to find a solution …

Delivery to the Lost City by PG Bell

P. G. Bell's Delivery to the Lost City is the thrilling conclusion of the Train to Impossible Places trilogy, a magical middle-grade adventure.

When the Impossible Postal Express is charged with returning an overdue library book, Suzy Smith looks forward to a nice, simple delivery–just the thing she needs to convince her anxious parents to let her keep her job on the train.

So she’s less than thrilled to discover that not only is the book alive, it’s full of a growing and dangerous magic. Worse still, the world to which it belongs is missing, and Suzy and her friends will have to use all their ingenuity to find it.

Suzy must help a fledgling rebellion seize power, return the book to its rightful owner, and get home before her parents ground her for life.

The conclusion to the Train to Impossible Places trilogy promises to be the most adventurous yet.

#Bookpost! week ending 15th December, 2020.

Happy Tuesday! It's been a good week with some very generous publicity reps giving us lots of lovely books. We're not going to be bored over Christmas!

As always, click on the covers to head to goodreads, and this week for the first time in a while there's comments under some of the titles! We're very excited for all of these.

Stick Boy by Paul Coomey

It's tough fitting in when you're born to stick out!
From the moment Stick Boy and his family move to Little Town, there is way more to worry about than being the new kid. There's a mysterious plot involving Baron Ben's new Mega Mall, pop star Jonny Vidwire and the highly suspicious HomeBots that are infiltrating every home in town. Can Stick Boy and his friends uncover the evil plan behind it all before it's too late?
An incredibly exciting and extremely funny new world for middle grade readers and fans of DIARY OF A WIMPY KID, TOM GATES and TIMMY FAILURE.

Enemy Rising by CJ Fisher

In 1803, Robert Wellesley launched an unauthorized British takeover of India.

In 1804, the dead began to devour the living.

Things haven't been the same since.

Cursed creatures wander the plains of India, stumble through her jungles, and invade the cities of the people. In a world turned upside down, four youth with little in common find their lives intertwined in the struggle for survival. Destiny pushes them together in unexpected ways, but the curse of the nineteenth century threatens to tear them apart. Together can they form a united front and save the world?

Roundup!

Happy Sunday! Things are getting a bit busier again on the blog as we dig into January's upcoming titles.

The Kitten Next Door by Holly Webb and Sophy Williams

 

Sophia loves cats but her parents think she and her sister are too young to have one of their own. So when a tiny kitten creeps through the fence from next door’s garden, Sophia immediately falls in love with her.

Then Sophia hears that her neighbours are moving away. She won’t get to see Willow any more! To her surprise, though, the little kitten is left behind. Can Sophia convince Mum and Dad to give Willow a new home? 

Sleepless by Louise Mumford

Don’t close your eyes. Don’t fall asleep. Don’t let them in.

Thea is an insomniac; she hasn’t slept more than three hours a night for years.

So when an ad for a sleep trial that promises to change her life pops up on her phone, Thea knows this is her last chance at finding any kind of normal life.

Soon Thea’s sleeping for longer than she has in a decade, and awakes feeling transformed. So much so that at first she’s willing to overlook the oddities of the trial – the lack of any phone signal; the way she can’t leave her bedroom without permission; the fact that all her personal possessions are locked away, even her shoes.

But it soon becomes clear that the trial doesn’t just want to help Thea sleep. It wants to control her sleep…

Fangirl the manga, Vol 1 by Rainbow Rowell and Sam Maggs

Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, everybody is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life. Cath's sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath just can't let go. Now that they’re in college, Cath must decide if she’s ready to start living her own life. But does she even want to if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

Cath doesn’t need friends IRL. She has her twin sister, Wren, and she’s a popular fanfic writer in the Simon Snow community with thousands of fans online. But now that she’s in college, Cath is completely outside of her comfort zone. There are suddenly all these new people in her life. She's got a surly roommate with a charming boyfriend, a writing professor who thinks fanfiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome new writing partner ... And she's barely heard from Wren all semester!

Happy #Bookbirthday!

Happy Thursday! Another quiet week as companies are winding down for Christmas. Just one book on our lists published this week, and one for each of the next three weeks (unless something else turns up!)

The Greatest Inventor by Ben Brooks

Join the adventure. Break the curse. Find your way home. A magical new adventure from the best-selling author of The Impossible Boy.

Victor is sceptical when Walter Swizwit comes to the village of Rainwater. He's the latest in a string of inventors passing through and no one wants to buy his cheap magic tricks. But Walter doesn't take rejection well and puts a curse on the village.

Only Victor is unaffected, and he must leave Rainwater for the first time in his life if he's to find the cure. Victor's path takes him past other villages that Walter has damaged and he picks up new companions on the way: Elena, handy with bow and arrow, Mo-Lan, a science prodigy and scaredy-cat Mingus.

It's soon clear that they underestimated Walter's power. Only he has the cure for his magic, and he's locked away in his castle a thousand leagues away. But he's not the only inventor out there....

If Victor and his friends can get someone more powerful on their side, maybe they can win: find Walter, break the curse and return as heroes.

After all, there's no place like home....

The Day I Fell into a Fairytale by Ben Miller

Lana loves stories. Especially the ones she and her brother, Harrison, share in their make-believe games. But when Harrison decides he’s too grown-up to play with Lana she finds herself feeling lonely. Until something magical happens…

Hidden in the strange new supermarket in town, Lana discovers a portal to a fairytale world! But these aren’t the happy-ever-after fairytales that Lana knows, they are darker and more dangerous, and the characters need Lana’s help to defeat an evil witch. But she can’t do it alone. Can she convince Harrison to believe in stories again and journey to the world with her. . . before it’s too late?

This is a story about stories, but it’s also about a brother and a sister finding their way back to each other through the power of imagination.

#Bookpost! week ending 8th December, 2020

So here we are, approaching the end of the year, the busiest time for all three of us, and a whole pile of wonderful new books have arrived!

Yoga Where You Are by Dianne Bondy and Kat Heagberg

Find freedom in your yoga practice with this empowering guide from beloved yoga teacher and social justice activist Dianne Bondy and Yoga International editor-in-chief Kat Heagberg. Yoga Where You Are welcomes readers of all backgrounds, body sizes, and abilities into the practice of yoga. Dianne Bondy and Kat Heagberg offer everything you need to know to build a custom yoga practice that supports you exactly where you are--now and at every stage of your life's journey. Yoga Where You Are discusses how yoga intersects with body image, introduces essential information on elements like breathwork and meditation, and celebrates yoga's diverse roots through an introductory chapter on its origins and history. Whether you're a beginner, a seasoned practitioner, or a yoga teacher, the step-by-step instructions for hundreds of customizable pose variations provide an essential resource you can turn to as your practice evolves. Bondy and Heagberg also present tips to find inspiration and creativity on the mat. With truly inclusive language, alignment options for real bodies, and photos of a range of practitioners, the book provides you with everything you need to customize and deepen your practice with clarity and confidence. 

Roundup!

Happy Sunday, everyone! Retail is kicking us all in the behinds at the moment, but we're doing our best to keep the blog up to date for you.

The Story of Croke Park by Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh

It may seem strange to us now, but for a long time, with Ireland ruled by Britain, it was against the law to play sports like hurling and Gaelic football. That has all changed, and football, hurling and camogie are Ireland's most popular sports.

Gaelic sports icon Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh shares his lifelong passion for the GAA with young readers, as he guides them through its history, and its most iconic stadium, Croke Park. The stadium changed as Ireland changed, and it has been the venue for some of the most memorable matches in our history, as well as major historic events like Bloody Sunday.

Micheál picks his favourite players, matches and incidents from history and talks about the thrilling experience of commentating on games, and seeing the fabled cups - Sam Maguire, Liam McCarthy, O'Duffy and Brendan Martin - being held high by the All Ireland winners.

A must for all young GAA fans.

Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam SPOILERS IN REVIEW

A magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong

Amanda and Clay head out to a remote corner of Long Island expecting a vacation: a quiet reprieve from life in New York City, quality time with their teenage son and daughter, and a taste of the good life in the luxurious home they’ve rented for the week. But a late-night knock on the door breaks the spell. Ruth and G. H. are an older black couple—it’s their house, and they’ve arrived in a panic. They bring the news that a sudden blackout has swept the city. But in this rural area—with the TV and internet now down, and no cell phone service—it’s hard to know what to believe.

Should Amanda and Clay trust this couple—and vice versa? What happened back in New York? Is the vacation home, isolated from civilization, a truly safe place for their families? And are they safe from one another?

Suspenseful and provocative, Rumaan Alam’s third novel is keenly attuned to the complexities of parenthood, race, and class. Leave the World Behind explores how our closest bonds are reshaped—and unexpected new ones are forged—in moments of crisis.

There are SPOILERS in this review, please do not click through if you don't want to be spoiled!

Happy #Bookbirthday!

Happy Thursday! This week saw five books on our lists publish.

Three Christmas titles for toddlers

Hi guys, I have these three Christmas titles to run through for y'all!

(Lack of) #Bookpost

There is NO bookpost this week, guys! I know, it's unheard of. None of us got anything. I have high hopes for this upcoming week, though.

Stay safe and let us know what you got this week!